Valentine's day extravaganza
by Titanmaster 117
Summary: It's almost Valentine's Day at Beacon Academy, and the resident knight is cooking up a little something for everyone, as a show of his appreciation. But, when he finds them to be lacking, he gets a brilliant idea. After all, aura helps to improve weapons, so why not try it on food? What could go wrong? {ACHOO!} Huh, allergy season must be kicking in early... (Warning: Limes, harem)


**Contains elements of RWBY: After The Fall**

* * *

T'Was Valentine's Day, in Beacon Academy.

Well, not yet, but still, getting there.

Okay, starting over.

T'Was not Valentine's Day, in Beacon Academy.

That was tomorrow.

There, sorted. Moving on.

All across the academy, everyone was getting in the mood for the day. Couples were prancing around, showing off their lovey dovey bullcrap and making everyone else who didn't have a boy/girl/whatever-friend feel absolutely miserable because they did not have a boy/girl/whatever-friend and making them feel like absolute crap and feel like they needed a boy/girl/friend in order to conform with the norms of society and be accepted as adequate members of society. Singles hoping to amend that title of being single were rushing around hither and thither, pouring their hearts out into love letters that probably won't even be considered at all, or chocolates that would be scoffed down immediately with no thought given to the maker at all, or whatever romance cliché that they saw on TV or in a chick flick that they figured would work in real life, even though it is indeed real life and not TV, contrary to popular belief. And everyone else was either crying themselves to sleep over not having a boy/girl/whatever-friend, refusing to conform to a national holiday that had been created and propagated by businesses in order to exploit the loneliness and desperation of lonely individuals in order to milk them and the idea and concept of love as a whole for money, or just not giving a sod, being content with their loneliness, and planning on buying and binging all of the chocolate that would be going on sale the day after Valentine's.

Contrary to popular belief, Grimm actually had a belter of a time during this day.

Jaune Arc, Scion of the Arc family, leader of Team JNPR (surprisingly, according to him), and knight to be, was a bit mixed about it, being in both the second and third category. See, when he was contemplating this day not too long ago, he was pondering about the meaning of the day, being love, and the different meanings of the word, and the different varieties of it, and so far, he'd nailed it down to 3 relevant categories-

Romantic love- Love between romantic partners.

Familial love- Love between family members.

Platonic love- Love between friends.

Now, being the hopeless romantic that he was, he had been pondering on what to do for this day, seeing as how his old crush in the form of one Weiss Schnee was now testing the waters of a relationship with Neptune Vasilias, and though he was happy that Weiss was able to get along with Neptune, and it was nice to see her smile, he was still hung up about it, and needed something to take his mind off of it, hence his pondering of Valentine's Day.

Now, see, Jaune was one of those people who, despite his own lack of self confidence in himself, was one that wanted everyone to be happy and smile a bit more He really doubted that anyone would ever want to go out with a scraggly blond such as himself, so at first he was hardly interested in the day, and was content to wallow in his own self pity and loneliness and binge eat all of the half price chocolates the next day.

However, then, in his mind, he conjured up a brilliant idea! Valentine's Day was all about love, right? And he loved his friends, being his teammates, team RWBY, CFVY, SSSN, etc, yes? And platonic love was still a form of love, correct?

Boom, problem solved.

And that was why Jaune was in both the second and third category. He was content in his loneliness, but he was still going to do something for the people that he cared about.

It was also why he was in the school cafeteria's kitchen late at night, wearing his best apron (None of Ren's, unfortunately. He was rather protective of them. Not that he blamed him, those things were damn comfortable to wear. Almost like his onesie), And working round the clock to perfect one of the greatest confectionary delights ever created by man: Cupcakes for everyone! And not just that: Chocolate cupcakes! The best kind.

Unless you were Zwei. Then they are the worst kind.

Putting on the oven gloves and flipping open the oven, he pulled out his tray of now finished, freshly baked, still piping hot chocolate cupcakes out of the oven, and set them down on the side, allowing their sweet aroma to fill the air and flow into the kitchen and cafeteria. Popping off the oven gloves, he put his hands to his side and admired the puffy and fluffy buns before him (_Not bad_, he thought to himself) Before setting to work once more, grabbing the chocolate icing ingredients, and preparing to make the icing. While the cupcakes were calling down, he'd make the icing, and after that, he'd put it in the fridge for a bit, and then cut up the strawberries to top it off, and then he'd put them all together, and finish off his gift to every-

"Mister Arc."

Jaune yelped in surprise, almost dropping the bowl that he was holding, playing a game of juggling with it for a few moments, before catching it once more in his hands, and looking at the owner of the voice. Only one person in this school had that voice. A voice that'd make any delinquent and evildoer wet themselves and beg for mercy.

Miss Glynda Goodwitch stood in front of the separator between the kitchen and the cafeteria, dressed in her night clothes (That left very little to the imagination, Jaune realised), but still wearing her glasses and welding her crop in her hand, an annoyed grimace on her face.

"Mister Arc, do you have any idea what time it is?" she asked in a stoic tone, and yet not hiding her annoyance.

"Er, it's-"

"That was a rhetorical question, Mister Arc."

"Oh... Can I change my answer?"

Glynda sighed, and then went, "Here's a question that's not rhetorical: What, for goodness sake, are you doing up so late? It is midnight, Mister Arc, and here you are in the kitchen, instead of sleeping like you should be doing", she then sniffed the air, her stoic tone replaced by a curious gaze, "And what is that smell?"

"Oh, er, well, since it's Valentine's Day tomorrow-"

Glynda interrupted him, "Mister Arc, I know for a fact that you are aware of Miss Schnee and Mister Vasilias relationship-"

"What, no no no, it's not that!" Jaune went, before clarifying, "Okay, Valentine's Day is all about love, right?"

"Right."

"And I love all my friends, being his teammates, team RWBY, CFVY, SSSN, etc, which is platonic love. And platonic love is still a form of love, correct?"

"Correct."

"So, I'm making all of them cupcakes, to show how much I care about them!"

Glynda looked at him for a few moments, completely stoic, before asking, "And why couldn't you do this earlier in the day?"

Jaune paused, and then replied with, "Ah, yes, you see Miss Goodwitch, the reason that that wouldn't have worked is that... I didn't think about it at the time."

Glynda's eyebrows dropped to a deadpan look.

Jaune shrugged, "Hindsight is 20/20, I guess."

Goodwitch groaned, "Mister Arc, I should have you know that staying up past curfew is an offense that would land you with a week's detention, staying up late after curfew would land you with another week's detention, and using the kitchen without permission and using up all of the ingredients in there, ingredients that would be more useful in feeding hungry and exhausted students and hunters before and after missions would land up you with a month's detention, meaning that you now have about a month and a half's detention to work through. Honestly, I've had to deal with this from your teammate Miss Valkyrie, but I didn't think that I'd have to deal with it from-"

"I'll give you a cupcake tomorrow if you forget that I was here."

"You'll give me one now, Mister Arc."

"Ah, right", he went as he pulled out a cupcake from the tin, juggling it around his hands as it was still quite hot, before a purple glow came over it, and it was pulled into Glynda's hand.

"Thank you, Mister Arc, and have a good night", the headmistress said as she turned around, unwrapping the cupcake from its wrapper, and taking a bite out of the warm cake, humming and swallowing, "Hm, not bad."

"Thanks, have a good night, Miss Goodwitch", Jaune replied, as he watched the headmistress leave the cafeteria, and then went about to work once more. No rest for the wicked, of course.

Heh heh, Yang would be proud of that pun. Not that he'd ever tell her.

Soon, he had completed his work, and gazed upon his completed confectionary treats, looking at the soft buns, the chocolate icing that decorated it, and the strawberry slice that topped it all off. Not his best, of course, but not his worst either.

Not good enough, unfortunately. If he was to give his friends gifts of appreciation for all that they had done for him, they'd have to be damned well better than just mediocre! Those were the rules, he didn't make them. Deal with it.

Unfortunately, there wasn't any time to completely redo them, as it was past midnight, and he really wanted to go to sleep, seeing as it was getting harder to keep his eyes open and he was starting to sway from side to side. And yet, he wouldn't be- He refused to be!- Satisfied with just mediocre.

Unfortunately, once again, sleep.

He was getting frustrated, and annoyed, probably due to getting annoyed, and was about to shove his cupcakes into a sealed tin and put them in the fridge before a brilliant idea- A marvellous idea!- Came into his mind.

Aura was used to make fighters better at their jobs. They were used to unlock semblances and were like forcefields that protected your body from harm and all that jazz.

But more importantly to the situation, they could be funnelled into a person's weapons or gear, as to make them stronger and more lethal and such.

At least, that's what he'd gotten from Pyrrha. May be accurate, may not be, who knows? He didn't, that's for sure.

The point is, is that if he could pump his aura into his sword or shield, thereby making them better, and much stronger (He sort of remembered Professor Peach talking about how aura enhanced the molecules and molecular properties of objects that they have been imbued with, or at least something along those lines), then could the same be said for food? Possibly so, and probably so, seeing as how they'd had a food fight before, and had used Aura to enhance their food weapons, so it was a possibility that it might enhance it's taste, but a possibility at best.

Eh, worth a shot. What could go wrong?

Quickly feeling the urge to sneeze, he grabbed some tissues out of the tissue box nearby, ran out of the kitchen and into the cafeteria, and let out a loud sneeze.

Hm, allergy season must be kicking in early.

After wiping his nose and running his hands under the sink, Jaune then took a step back from the kitchen side, raised his hands to his cupcakes, and summoned forth his aura, the warm fuzz of a feeling moving around his body like an endless ocean. He concentrated, trying to push his aura to his hand, and then push it outwards, to his treats, feeling his soul bare stream to his hands, and then...

Nothing. Nada.

He tried again. Nope. Once more. Nothing at all.

He stayed like that for a while, trying and trying again. No results each time. He let his hands down and sighed, allowing his aura to fade away once more. He felt tired, more so than before, actually. Time to go to bed.

He sighed, sorry for his friends in having to gift to them mediocre cupcakes, and then just shook his head and stuffed them in the fridge, promising to come back tomorrow, get them out, and hand them out to everyone.

As he slinked off to bed, he was unaware of the soft glow from his cupcakes in the fridge. It faded away as soon as he closed the door.

* * *

**The next morning...**

* * *

Ah, Valentine's Day. The day where couples would hog all of the space in the corridors and sloppily make out in view of everyone, while everyone else would bear witness to this and look in disgust at the spit swap and plot the couple's downfall.

Jaune wasn't paying any attention to it as he quickly travelled down to the kitchen, took his cupcakes out of the fridge, popped them into the old holiday chocolate tins that they had spare from the Beacon Dance, and then started to walk back to his dorm, planning on giving them out to his teammates first, and then to RWBY, and then to everyone else afterwards. Shame that they'd have to settle for, once again, mediocre, as a lot of things seemed to be in his life, but he supposed that it was the best that he could do in the space of time that he-

"Hey, Jaune!"

-Had.

His trail of thought broken by the sound of someone calling to him, he looked to his side to see Neon Katt and Flynt Coal, members of Team FNKI (Never see the other 2 from the group around, for some reason. Huh, weird) From Atlas, who'd come to Vale so that they could do their part in the upcoming Vytal Festival, just like many of the other teams that'd come from all across Remnant (Or just the 4 kingdoms, whatever floats your boat). They'd met in Vale a few days after the events of the Breach, when Jaune and his team were helping to clear the rubble and wreckage from the battle, and the 3 of them had hit it off and started off a pretty good friendship. Probably because Flynt and Neon reminded him so much of Ren and Nora respectively. Maybe.

"Hey, Neon, hey Flynt", Jaune happily began, turning to the side to face them, "Nice to see you guys, how's Beacon been treating you?"

"It's good, it's good! It's great even! Lot more tolerant around here than it is back in Atlas!" Neon chirped happily, twirling around on her roller skates as she talked, "Less people trying to pull my tail, so that's nice!"

"Oh", was all Jaune could say at that for a few moments, before he continued with, "I'm sorry to-"

"Ah, it's fine, I never really cared about it anyway", Neon shrugged with a lazy smile, "Apart from the times that I poked their eyes out", her tail rose up, curled, and made a stabbing motion, "With my tail", her tail then curled into a thumbs up, "Good times."

"Ah", was his reply once more.

Neon giggled, and Flynt continued on with, "Yeah, and if she didn't get to them, I'd find them, shove my trumpet up their asses and play a tune", he then put his trumpets to his lips and played the funeral tune.

{DOOO DOO DO DOO DOOO DOO DO BOOM} That last bit was the sound of a jet of flame coming out of his trumpet.

"Bit much, don't you think?" Jaune asked.

Flynt shrugged and scoffed, "Eh, if you can't take the heat, then why the hell are you on the stage in the first place?"

"Question I ask myself everyday", Jaune muttered.

"Oi, enough of that old maudlin rubbish", Neon went, jumping up and smacking Jaune on the back of the head, making him almost drop his boxes.

Ow, oh, hey!" he went as he quickly wobbled the boxes back into place, and shot a look at Neon, "What was that for?"

"Well, it was to get you out of that little funk of yours", Neon simply replied, "Sorry to say this, but with the amount of angst that you've got in your scraggly little frame, you might s'well be a massive magnet for the Grimm! A big juicy despair stake that'll have all of the Grimm invading Beacon and lining up just to have a taste!"

Jaune paused, and then lifted up a finger, "1, that's a terrible analogy. 2, the chances of the Grimm invading Beacon are little to nothing-"

Somewhere in the school, Cinder Fall sneezed, and was immediately confused, pondering if allergy season was kicking in early.

"-And 3, well, thanks, I guess."

"Aw, no probs, Jauney-Boy", Neon paused, and then went, "You know, you could show your thankidy thanky thanks by showing us what's in the ol' boxes, because my little OP Faunus nose- So much better than your lame ol' human noses by the way. S'genetics, and all that. All my Faunus boys and girls and whatever else tend to have better eyes and noses. And all that- Anyways, my OP Faunus nose senses have detected a sweet- And I mean absolutely scrummy yummy in my tummy sweet!- Smell coming right from those boxes, and it's making my tummy feel things!" a growl came from her stomach, "Really growly things."

"Neon, behave", Flynt went, pulling on one of her ponytails.

"Ow, so am I suppose to ignore the stupidly nice smell that is invading my nostrils?"

"No, I guess not, but just try to keep a lit on all of it at least."

Neon pouted, "Aw, fine. Sorry."

Jaune sighed and then chuckled. It was times like this that Jaune was thankful for Flynt and his accepting of his role as Neon's minder. Who knows what she'd do if she was left to her own devices.

It was also times like this where he was glad that she'd never actually met Nora yet. He was having nightmares from just thinking about what carnage they'd bring.

So much destruction... So many credit cards made redundant...

"Anywho~", Neon spoke in a sing song voice, "How about you show us what's in the box? Boxes. What's in the boxes?... Please. Please? I forgot to say please. Please?"

Jaune rolled his eyes, and then opened one of the boxes, revealing the chocolate cupcakes inside, trying to ignore the sweet smell that slapped him in the face as he opened it (They weren't this sweet smelling last night. Could it be... Nah, couldn't be), and presented it to them, moving his eyes away from them, before going, "Ah, they're just Valentine's presents I made for everyone. Cupcakes. They're not the best, and I didn't have time to start from scratch when I ended up...", he turned his eyes back to them, having heard not a peep from them, "Er, guys?..."

He saw them gazing at the cupcakes, completely enrapturing their attention, Neon's eyes were wide, and she was currently drooling out of an open mouth, her tail rocking from side to side, a drop of sweat coming off of her head, a surprising reaction, if Jaune was to say so. Even Flynt seemed a bit enamoured by them, a tiny bit of saliva trickling down his mouth, a drop of sweat down his nose.

Flynt let out a breath and went, "Whoa, is it just me, or is it getting hot in here?"

"Oh my god, they smell so good~", Neon muttered as she took a big whiff of the cupcakes, and gave Jaune a wide doe-eyed look, "Can I have one, please, please, please please please?"

"Er, well, they are for everyone, so yeah, of course", he replied.

"Yay! Gimme gimme gimme!" she went as she lunged for the box, before getting a slap on the hand from Flynt, "Ow, what was that for?"

"He meant one cupcake, not a whole box", scolded Flynt.

"Oh, fine", Neon went, as she plucked 2 right out of the box, "And a one for me, and a one for you", she sung as she handed one of them to Flynt, and began to unwrap her own, "Thanks, Jauney-Boy!"

"Yeah, thanks man", Flynt went, unwrapping his own as well.

"Ah, no problem", Jaune went, before putting the lid back on the box, and then starting to walk off to the dorms, "Hey, I gotta go give the rest of these out to everyone, so er, happy Valentine's Day, I guess."

"You too, Jaune. Have a happy Valentine's Day!" Neon called out, as Jaune travelled down the corridor, and disappeared from their sight. Once Jaune was gone, Neon took a wide bite out of her cupcake, icing covering her lips, and immediately began to coo, "Ouhm I ud ese R sho ghud!"

"Neon, please don't talk with your mouth full, it's gross", Flynt said, before taking a bite out of his.

"Ouhm, shurrie", Neon went, swallowing her bite, and licking up the icing around her lips, "But it was so fricking good! It was like a million pop tarts just exploded in my mouth like a Dust bomb! Just like, KA-BOOM! Mushroom cloud on my tongue!"

Flynt hummed, before swallowing his bite, and going, "Yeah, I know how you feel, these are really something, ain't they?... Neon?"

He looked to Neon, who has scarfed the rest of her cupcake down, and had begun to giggle and drool more, "Oh my gods, that was so good, I need another one~! Oooh, it's making me feel all fuzzy and stuff, and..."

She looked at Flynt, saw the cupcake in his hand, and then looked to his lips, and then his eyes underneath his glasses.

"Er, Neon?..."

* * *

On a world like Remnant, filled with misery, suffering, creatures of darkness and doom, and monsters in the skins of man, with a global population that was continuously decreasing day by day in a bitter and fruitless war against the tide of darkness, could one blame another for wishing to find a way to leave this doomed place and to escape into their own realm of relief and happiness? Velvet Scarlatina would say no, in her humble opinion. With the degrading quality of the news cycle continuously reporting on missing settlements and terrorist attacks and the like, not to mention the horrors that she saw and witnessed herself, the Hunter teams that came back one or more members short, seeing innocents, mothers and children, taken away from this mortal world (If one didn't believe her on that part, why don't they ask Coco Adel about the Lower Cairn settlement? She was sure that she'd have some words to say), People discriminating and showing hate against others for whatever bigoted reasons that they had, which is something which she had personal experience with, being on the receiving end of it all. With all of that, it wasn't unfair to think that one didn't deserve to sometimes just escape into their own little world. To escape from the horrors and the conflicts and the uncertains and the unknowns, into a world where everything made sense, and everything was as it should be.

Of course, there are many ways in which people try to escape into this fantasy world of theirs, many outlets that they use to slink away into this perfect utopia, some healthy, some not so much.

Books were Velvet's way of whisking away, of escaping this doomed world and retreating into her own little domain, where she could be left alone to her own thoughts, away from the complications and negatives of the real world, a place where she could be at peace. As such, she found that the library, aside from the photography club and her dorm, to be her favourite place in the school. It served as a quiet, and secure place, where she could just gather and read as many books and she could and wished, and just, slink away into her own Havana. Her own utopia.

Today, however, was not one of those days. Today, instead of reading, Velvet was simply sitting in her seat, her hands folded in front of her, her elbows on the desk (She knew, she was ashamed too), and was simply sitting in thought. What was on her mind? Valentine's Day.

She knew it was rather silly to be focusing on a holiday that wasn't even that widely celebrated to begin with, but it was still on her mind, and if she were to be honest, it only served to remind her of her own loneliness. A loneliness that hadn't been properly extinguished by her own team. Yatsuhashi and Fox had gotten themselves dates with 2 girls from teams that were staying in Beacon for the Vytal Festival, Yatsuhashi with a girl named Arslan Altan, Fox with a girl named Octavia Ember. Hell, even Coco had gotten a date (Contrary to popular belief, Coco and Velvet were not actually dating, due to the fact that while Coco was gay, Velvet was in fact not that attracted to women) with Nebula Violette, the leader of Team NDGO. And with all of them going out from here to there, it left Velvet alone, once more, just like so many times before.

Velvet took her ears in hand and tenderly rubbed them. It was a known truth to her why no one wished to go out anywhere with her, perhaps even her own team, no matter what they said. It was her ears. Or more specifically, it was who she was. A Faunus. An offshoot of humanity, imperfect, and products of bestiality, from the words of those in the more radical circles of racial aggravators. And the problem with that, was that many people across Remnant agreed with them. Everywhere she went, she was either witness, or victim, of racial acts and violence against Faunus, for one reason or another. Freak, Grimmspawn, beast, godless animal, and whatever other racial slurs and insults anyone could come up with, she'd been victim to it. She'd been punched, kicked, had her ears pulled and slashed, and thrown around all her life, all because of the ears on her head. Today, Valentine's Day, only served to remind her of the pain and loneliness that she felt, had felt, and still felt.

Sometimes, she considered pulling on them. Sometimes she considered ripping them off, stomping on them, and burying them deep in the ground away from everyone and everything, just so that she wouldn't have to deal with all of the hate and racial bile that she received over the years. Of course, she knew that it wasn't that simple, and she loved her ears, she really did, but it didn't stop the treacherous thoughts from slipping through.

Her hands squeezed on her ears for just a moment.

A familiar sound hit her. She let go of her rabbit ears, and let them rise up above her head, tracing the sound to its origin. From the library entrance, it would seem. She turned her head to the entrance ever so slightly, looking to see who had entered. A sweet smell immediately hit her, and a soft smile fell upon her lips at the sight of a familiar blond boy, boxes in hand, entering the library, same droopy smile on his lips, same shaggy blond hair, same ocean blue eyes.

She watched Jaune Arc go from table to table, handing out whatever was in the boxes to whomever he considered a friend, exchanging words between them. She spotted- And heard- Him whispering to Neptune that he was routing for him, and to not serenade her, at least, not do it as poorly as he did (Velvet remembered hearing that attempt for Weiss' affections. She did have to agree, it was not very good), And then trading a few friendly words with Weiss, who was much more affable to him than before. She then saw him go to a table where Blake and Sun were sitting, the 2 of them discussing on what to do tonight, Blake suggesting a night in their dorms, and Sun's tail waggling at the thought of going out to a fast food place or anywhere that sold bananas (Velvet would've said something about being a bit too stereotypical to animals, but then again, Blake liked tuna a lot, and acted a lot like a cat, and even Velvet's favourite food was carrots, so to do so would be hypocritical), and then seeing Jaune with his boxes, and smiling as he handed them one each of whatever was in there, trading small talk once more, before Jaune wished them a good day, and he took off once more, to the next table, with Ren and Nora, where Ren was trying to get Nora to concentrate on her studies, and Nora was going on about finding a nice seat in the Pancake Factory for them for Valentine's Day, though their Fearless Leader quickly proved a distraction for them, though Jaune and Ren quickly shared a look, nodded, and the blond boy simply put 2 of what was in the boxes on the table, and told Nora that she could have one after she finished her studies. Fierce pouting ensued.

Jaune Arc. A boy that Velvet had talked to before, and one whom had been able to empathise and understand her. She'd first seen him and his team, and their sister team in RWBY back during the first semester at the start of the year, when she was being bullied by Team CRDL-

("You never stand up for yourself", always says Coco. Yeah, well what was the point of doing so? It would only make things worse for everyone. Velvet didn't believe in using violence to stop prejudice from others. It wouldn't change their minds, it would only make them angrier. Only make them stronger in their claims and bigoted beliefs, and it would only make their retort more violent, more impassioned, more brutal. And those who would use violence to push back against bigotry and prejudice would run the risk, and would possibly become, the very thing that they hated, demonising their enemies, and becoming bigoted and filled with prejudice themselves.

Example: The Schnee Dust Company and the White Fang. The Schnee Dust Company was known for its bigoted views on Faunus, and their poor treatment of their Faunus labour forces, but with the escalating violence from the White Fang and other Faunus groups, it has only made the SDC officials racist views on Faunus stronger, and even worse, making the treatment of Faunus within their labour forces harsher and even worse. And the White Fang, once a peaceful movement where, contrary to their own belief, they were actually making progress in achieving equality for Faunus before they started throwing Molotovs and bombs, have become nothing more then a band of thugs and murderers, taking a once noble cause and twisting it for their own bigoted ways, making things harder for Faunus, and only achieving some form of Faunus equality through fear.

The point was that violence against prejudice would only bring about more violence and prejudice. That is what Velvet learnt throughout her life, and it was a lesson that she would stick too. The best thing to do when confronted with a bully was to ignore them, to prove that she was better than them by not acting against them at all. To show that their words wouldn't get to her, and they weren't. If she were to treat them with respect, then perhaps they'd treat her with respect too.)

-And as she had been running away from the table, she'd spotted and heard them condemning Cardin and his team of thugs, but not actually doing anything about it. Bystander Syndrome at its most obvious. Pyrrha, the Invincible Girl herself, saying that she couldn't stand people like that, and yet doing nothing to stop it to begin with. Blake glaring daggers at the boys, but staying sat. Yang acknowledging the struggles of a Faunus, and yet, not doing anything to try and alleviate it at all. Nora saying that she would break Cardin's legs, or something like that, but sitting down and staying in her own little bubble. Even Ruby Rose, the most optimistic and hopeful of them, doing nothing, glaring at Cardin but not doing anything at all. All of them sitting there, condemning, waddling their fingers and shaking their heads hither and thither, and yet, doing nothing about it. Staying sat, contempt to live in their glass towers, waiting for the damsel to cry out in distress so that they might earn their thanks and rewards, instead of defeating the dragon before, and waiting for someone to call out for help so that they might feel better, more powerful, so that they might lord themselves over others, and be showered with praise.

And then there was Jaune, who was just sitting there, poking his own food and trying to make sure that Cardin didn't spot him, or that no one spotted him at all.

Velvet figured that it was some kind of unspoken rule. Hunters should be able to look after themselves. They shouldn't have to go to others for their problems, less their pride be wounded, and they been shown as not as strong as they thought, that they show that even they have weakness. If a Hunter calls for help, then surely it is a sign of weakness, one that must be ignored and refused to acknowledge, so that the person themselves can fix it by themselves, and then so that they might become better Hunters themselves. Velvet did not know, but she knew this: She grew to resent those at the tables of RWBY and JNPR for just a second, not for not helping her, that would be pointless and selfish of her, but for not following through on their own promises. Falling victim to the same bystander syndrome that had befallen so many others around her before. For seeing a problem and not doing anything about it.

Later on, just a day after the first years took their trip to Forever Falls, Cardin and his cronies were at it once more. Name calling, ear pulling, the works. And once more, she saw Jaune- The blond knight to be- Spotting them himself. She figured- She confidently (Such usage of the word, especially in that way, was rather unbecoming of her, if she did say so herself) Assumed that he'd stop, stare, walk away, and be content to stay in his own little bubble, much like she was usually content to stay in her own.

However, his next actions surprised her. He walked up to Cardin- To CRDL- And told them to back off. Sternly, and confidently. And Cardin and the rest of his goons... They backed off. They saw him, they heard his words, and they backed off. Of course, they're still harassing her to this day, but less so than before, and definitely not in the presence of Jaune. Velvet was surprised to see this, and then even more so when Jaune decided to sit down right next to her, just so they could talk.

Another thing that surprised the bunny girl was how he didn't expect her praise. She said thanks, but he brushed it off, and apologised himself for not doing anything back in the cafeteria and before, and for not standing up for her before (Velvet had said that it was fine, but he kept going until he got it out of his system), And actually came out with his own story, that he'd been being bullied by Cardin, and then blackmailed by him into doing his dirty work for him, though blackmailing him with what, Velvet didn't know, and didn't wish to know. Even more surprising was his honesty, and his humbleness; He didn't think that he was that worthy of becoming a Hunter, had quite a lot of low self esteem about himself, was incredibly honest about himself and his views, and didn't even seem aware of why Velvet was being discriminated against.

Velvet found the boy to be... An odd one. He was weak in a fight and yet incredibly stubborn, very much a hothead and had a habit of charging in headfirst into situations without as much as a clear thought, wasn't very intelligible on the more basic survival skills, and oblivious to a lot of the most basic social ques, but he did have a certain charm about him. He was funny, intentionally or not, honest to a fault, quirky, rather innocent about a lot of stuff, had a true hero's heart, didn't have any negative feelings to her or anyone because of their heritage, was a natural leader rather than a fighter, and deeply cared about those that he thought as friends. It was sort of endearing, in Velvet's opinion.

Soon after that, they'd hit off a friendship between them, and found themselves hanging out more. They were studying together in the library, discussing the best ways to make a cake, talking about how to improve their fighting skills, groaning about how people were so hard to understand, talking about their old friends and siblings, like Vega Bleu, Velvet's old friend from Pharos Academy back before he went off for Atlas, Jaune about his sisters, like Saphron and her wife Terra and child Adrian, and then her seeing his favourite jumper (She didn't care how much Nora and Coco laughed at it, that was still the cutest little bunny that she'd ever seen), and just talking about anything that came to mind.

It was nice, Velvet figured, to have a friend to just talk to and be honest with. Sure, the rest of Team CFVY was that to her as well, but still, he was nice, and didn't hate or have anything against her just because of the 2 ears upon her head, unlike so many others in this Academy, so Velvet wasn't exactly about to turn down this kind of friendship.

It was sometime later when she started yearning more for his company, when she'd start wishing that the simple embraces between them lasted but a few seconds longer, when his voice, bright and happy, made her feel more alive than ever, when, in his darker, more maudlin moments, she wished to hold him until his smile returned, and when his smile came to him, she felt butterflies flutter in her stomach, and her heart beat several times more.

It was here that she realised that she may- MAY!- Be possibly maybe who knows developing feelings for him.

Ah poop.

Velvet hid her blush under her hands, unable to force away the dumb smile on her face, her ears curled up a bit as she felt her hair droop over her eyes. Wow, it suddenly became quite hot in here?

Wait, why is it so hot in here? And what is that really nice smell?

_"Will you give all you can give"_  
_"So that our banner may advance"_

Velvet jumped up for a second, her blush fading away, upon hearing the tune. She knew who it was, her smile widened just that bit more.

_"Some will fall and some will live"_  
_"Will you stand up and take your chance?"_

She smiled and turned around, facing Jaune Arc as he stood next to her desk, still holding the boxes in his hand, and with that familiar smile on him as he sung the familiar tune from an old movie that had been made by Faunus sympathisers during the Faunus Rights Revolution. Velvet smiled, and found herself joining in with the familiar song that they'd both ended up singing together once.

_""The blood of the martyrs""_  
_""Will water the meadows of-""_

"Shush!" hissed the grouchy old librarian from behind her desk. It was then that they both realised that everyone was looking at them, and they both went red in the face from embarrassment, Jaune quickly taking the desk next to Velvet and sitting back down, placing the boxes on the desk. It was a few moments later when they both looked at each other and whispered,

_""Vale""_

It took all of their strength to not burst out laughing, putting their hands to their mouths and covering up their laughs for about a full minute before they let out a tired, yet happy sigh. Velvet's was a little bit longer than it should've been.

Jaune looked and smiled at Velvet, "You know, I've had that song stuck in my head for days. Can't get it out. Tried listening to other songs, but nope. Nothing's gotten it out. S'going off in my head right now."

Velvet looked to him and shrugged, "There are worse songs to have in your head. Ever heard of It's Everyday Bro?" she then visibly gagged.

"Er, no."

"I would advise you keep it that way."

"Well alright then, I'll be sure to do so", he hesitantly said, before going, "So, how's life been going for you? Got anything planned for today? Got a lucky guy? Or girl? I don't judge."

Velvet rolled her eyes, "I'm not into girls, I'll have you know, but no, I don't have anyone to go with, though everyone else on my team is though."

"Oh, really?" his eyes widened in genuine surprise, "Why's that?" he paused for a few moments, "Is it because, um, you know-"

"No, no, it's not that", she lied, turning her head to the floor beneath her before going, "Well, okay, maybe it is", she sighed, "You know how it is."

"Well, it's a shame", Jaune went, "I don't see why no one would want to go out with you, just because of the ears on your head. If anything, they make you look even more beautiful."

Velvet looked back to him, her face reddening, "R-Really?"

"Oh, wait, no, wait", he began to stammer, "That's not the- I mean, you are- Wait, no, that wasn't- I wasn't trying to, you know, flirt or anything, I'm just- I'm just saying that your, er, bunny ears- Is it okay to say bunny ears? Bunny ears? Rabbit ears? Is it racist to call them bunny ears? Is it less racist to call them rabbit ears? Oh god, am I a racist? I hope not, that would suck, I mean-"

"Jaune?"

"Hm?"

"Rambling."

"Oh, right, sorry, sorry. Er, what was my... I forgot what my original point was- Wait, no I didn't! No I don't! Look, the point is, that your ears look good on you! They compliment you! They make you look cuter! You know, all that stuff! I figured that Coco had drilled that all into you by now, and stuff and all that, and if some jerk decides that they don't like you because of your ears, then screw them, they obviously don't know what they're talking about."

Velvet looked at him for a few moments, and then smiled. He'd made that old grandiose speech many times to her before, but it never stopped to warm her heart each time, "Thanks, I, heh, well I suppose I needed that."

"No problem, happy to help", Jaune went, before turning to the boxes on his side, "You know, I've got a- NORA!"

"Sorry!" went Nora as she quickly dropped the boxes back on the desk and ran back to her table.

"Nora...", he enunciated.

"Sorry!" she went as she quickly ran back and offloaded all of the cupcakes- Cupcakes?- From in her hands back into the boxes and ran back.

Jaune sighed as he tried to sort out his boxes and the cupcakes (Ah, so that's what that lovely smell was), and then went to Nora, "You're still in my bad books, you know."

"I'm innocent, I tell you!"

"I saw you with the evidence this morning!"

"Semantics!"

"What's going on?" Velvet asked, an eyebrow raised.

"She stole my desk tidy and filled it with pancake mix and grenade rounds", Jaune answered in a deadpan tone.

"He thinks I stole his desk tidy and filled it with pancake mix and grenade rounds!" Nora yelled back from her table, "I'm professing my innocence by stealing cupcakes and studying for my next test."

"Stealing cupcakes like you stole my desk tidy?"

"Semantics! Again!"

"Shush!" hissed the librarian once more.

""Sorry"", went Jaune and Nora.

Jaune then turned back to the boxes, took a cupcake from the pile, and slid it over to Velvet's desk. The rabbit Faunus was almost immediately hit by an incredibly sweet smell as she admired the strawberry tipped chocolate cupcake, barely having a second to stop the drool that threatened to roll down her chin. She was surprised with herself, though she didn't let it show: She never reacted this way to food. Even the nicest cakes that she'd seen, smelt, and tasted before never had her drooling like that before. She didn't know why, but there was something about these cupcakes that looked so... Enticing.

"Sorry about all of that", Jaune said as he finished sorting out his boxes and cupcakes, and stacked them on top of one another once more, "Hey, um, I've gotta go hand out the rest of these to everyone else (Except CRDL, for obvious reasons), sorry about all of that just then, I'll have a talk with Nora later today and we'll get all of that behind us, so, yeah, sorry about all of, um, that, yeah", there wasn't a reply from Velvet, "Er, Vel?"

"Hm, what?" Velvet whipped her head back to Jaune, "Oh, er, yeah, it's no problem. It's fine, it's fine, really."

"Er, okay then", Jaune said, as he began to get up, picking up the boxes once more, "You know, there's this boy called Roy Stallion from Shade Academy that's visiting for the Vytal Festival, and I think if you asked him out he'd say yes", he paused, before continuing, "I think he might have a thing for, er, is it racist to say bunny girls?"

"It depends on the context of those types of things", Velvet said, slightly miffed at Jaune's suggestion of a set up date with another boy, "Thanks, but I think that I might have to decline."

"Ah, alright then", the Arc Scion went, "Don't worry, Velvet, I'm sure there's a lucky guy out there waiting for you to sweep them of their feet."

"Shouldn't they be sweeping me off of my feet?"

"Well, they haven't found you yet, so it's obvious that you've gotta do the sweeping yourself!"

_You blond fool_, Velvet thought to herself, but she didn't stop the smile from emerging on her lips, as she giggled and spoke, "Thanks Jaune, really."

"It's no problem, I just wanted to show how much I appreciated you and everyone else", Velvet fought the blush that came to her as he said his words.

Jaune chuckled, and put his boxes down once more, letting a hand go and rubbed Velvet's head between her ears, surprising her, but not in a negative way, as she allowed him to rub her head for a few moments, the sensation sending pleasant vibrations down her, as she let out a giggle.

Jaune giggled as well, _Cute_, he thought, fighting the blush that came to him as well as he realised as he grabbed his boxes once more, and began to walk away, letting out a, "Happy Valentine's Day", to Velvet, before he left the library to the rest of the school.

Velvet looked to the door that Jaune left the library through, and then to the cupcake on her table, a blissful sigh leaving her lips. Oh, how ignorant was he? Very, it seemed. But then again, how could she really communicate it to him? She didn't want to ruin the friendship between them due to feelings that he might not even reciprocate. And besides, how could she compete against the likes of Pyrrha Nikos- She wasn't called the Goddess of Victory without good reason- And possibly even Ruby Rose herself? Madness it was, to even contemplate it.

And yet, the idea of him and her, together... It was becoming more and more appealing. More and more real.

She looked down to the cupcake and picked it up, unwrapping it, and taking a bite.

Her vision was filled with pink.

* * *

"While I do think you raise some good points Ruby, I must insist that my weapons do not need any further modifications to them. They haven't failed me yet, and I sincerely doubt that they will not fail me soon."

"Oh c'mon, Pyrrha, that's the Invincible Girl talking! Not every fights gonna be in the gladiator rings, you know. Out there in the wild, Grimm, Bandits, White Fang, they aren't gonna be playing fair. They aren't gonna be fighting with honour. Out there, you'll need every advantage that you can get!"

"Well, yes, I can understand that, but is gravity dust on my shield a really necessary addition?"

"Well yeah! Think about it! If a Grimm slashes or tries to grab your shield, BAM! They'll go blasting off again!"

Pyrrha chucked as she walked back to the shared dorms of RWBY and JNPR alongside Ruby Rose, the team leader of Team RWBY, the smaller girl animatedly waving her arms about as she raved about the possibilities of modifying Miló and Akoúo̱ with all sorts of additions and technical works, each one with its burst of jargon and technobabble.

Pyrrha finished chuckling, and then looked to Ruby and asked in a more serious tone, "Wait, wouldn't the gravity dust launch me back as well?"

"Well then it also serves as a handy getaway tool as well!" Ruby bubbled as she spoke, "You see, fi you let me add gravity dust to your shield, then it'll serve so many functions and will help up your Grimm slaying skills to about, ooh, I'd say a lot! Infinitely a lot!"

Pyrrha supressed her chuckle this time as she looked at the cape wearing . Some might be annoyed by the younger girl and her enthusiasm and passion for weapons and all of its likes, but Pyrrha, and the others in the circle of RWBY and JNPR, as well as those in CFVY and SSSN, found her to have a childish sort of charm to her, one which they didn't wish to get rid of anytime soon.

"Hm, well, I suppose I'll give it a thought", Pyrrha finished off, before having a thought, and asking, "Are you gonna ask if Jaune would like an upgrade like that?"

Ruby then looked flustered for a second, and then stammered a bit, "Oh, er, well, I-I mean, if, if he would like me to- If he would like one. If he would like one", Ruby looked up at Pyrrha, and cocked her head to the side, "Why'd you ask?"

"Oh, no reason, just wondering. Wouldn't want to have any unfortunate accidents during our training sessions", _Oh Ruby, I will say, Yang is right when she says that you're adorable when you stammer_, Pyrrha thought to herself as she looked at the Little Red Riding Hood.

"Oh yeah, well think about it this way, if he gets it, then nobody- Especially that jerk Cardin!- Will be expecting his shield to be able to launch them back, so when they go and hit his shield, expecting it to do bupkis, KA-BOOM! They'll go flying back, and land on their butts out of the ring! Or the arena. Or the forest. Or wherever. Doesn't matter! They'll go flying!" Ruby looked up to Pyrrha with sparkles in her eyes, her hands shooting into the air as she let out the last word, both of them knowing who exactly they were talking about in the context of flying away, and both of them enjoying the mental image of it.

"Well, yes, that, but also he could end up being launch back out of the ring as well", Pyrrha countered, "Remember, he doesn't have the same control and skills in terms of combat than the rest of us."

Ruby pouted to herself and looked down, her hands at her side, muttering something or other, and then getting a slight blush to her face and went, "Oh, no no no, none of that", Pyrrha wasn't sure what she was mumbling before that, but knowing her, it was to do with the familiar blond boy with who they shared an acquaintance with (Then again, the conversation had drifted a bit to him, so, yeah).

Pyrrha was aware that, just like her, Ruby had grown, or was growing, certain feelings for Jaune, though both of them had different reasons for doing so. Pyrrha was attached to Jaune because unlike everyone else she knew, he didn't put her on any kind of pedestal, and saw her for who she really was. Pyrrha Nikos the simple girl, and not the Invincible Girl, 4 time winner of the Mistral Regional Tournament, and Pumpkin Pete Mascot. Plus, he was nice, sweet, and, in her opinion at least, devilishly handsome. Ruby, by the looks of it, was growing more and more attached to Jaune as well, but for her own reasons: He was her first friend at Beacon, her first best friend, and the only person around to have picked her up from the crater that she'd made in the courtyard (From what she'd heard Ruby say), And from the looks of it, overtime, she'd slowly begun to see Jaune more and more in a romantic light, and now found herself enamoured by the blond knight, and all that he was and represented.

Pyrrha smiled at the girl and her obvious attempts to hide her affection for the boy. She wasn't blind to the hidden glances that she gave to him, the little doodles in her notebook, the awkward sidesteps around him, the stutters and the flusters, how much warmer and happier she looked when she was around him, how much she wished for his company, not to mention the sudden little looks of regrets when she let go of a handshake, or a high five, or a simple hug, as if she wished that they could last a little longer. Pyrrha would like to say that she was amazed that Jaune hadn't noticed all of this yet, but then again, when considering that his levels of obliviousness were probably higher than his already impressive aura count, this was probably expected.

Pyrrha imagined the 2 of them, Jaune and Ruby, in a relationship together, and found, much to her surprise and not at the same time, that there were very few flaws that she could find in a relationship between them. They were extremely compatible together. They shared the same interests, were already very familiar with each other, cared about each other like siblings would, were incredibly patient and appreciative of each other, and yet, while Jaune was poor at fighting, as well as lacking in curricular intelligence, such as history and maths and such, but great at tactical thinking and leadership, had a strong level of emotional maturity, and had quite the few skills in other aspects of life, Ruby was a progeny in the arts of combat, and was incredibly smart when it came to studying and school work, but lacked many other skills, as well as a lack of emotional maturity as well (Though this could be excused as she was still 2 years behind everyone else, and seemed to be quite sheltered for someone her age), And was still ironing out the curbs of leadership herself. They were both complete opposites of each other, and yet that didn't mean that they couldn't work. They were actually rather like Ren and Nora in a way, being that their differences seemed to balance each other out, and benefit each other while they were at it. Jaune had said to Pyrrha that Ruby had been a great inspiration to her throughout their time in Beacon so far, and from the looks of it, Jaune was an inspiration to Ruby as well.

Pyrrha swallowed the small amount of distain in her mouth as the imagined future faded from her mind. While she was aware that they worked well together, that didn't mean that she had to like it too much. He was her crush as well, and she doubted that many people enjoyed the thought of their crush being in a relationship with someone else.

However, she would not let her own feelings blind her. To do so would be unreasonable. Contrary to what seemed like popular belief, Pyrrha was not (At least, not that much of) A jealous girl. She did not know why so many people though that she'd turn into one of those psychopathic stalker love obsessed, and definitely selfish girls that one could find in Mistralian comics or cartoons (She had long forgotten what the name of that term was, _It began with a Y_, she thought. Ah well, she'd look it up later), But on the contrary, she was not like that at all.

Sure, she would like for her and Jaune to be together- To kiss under the broken moonlight, to hold hands and look upon the world of Remnant, to see all of it's beauty together, and long for something of their own- But she would not delude herself with her own fantasies. She would not delve into her own selfishness and bind him to her against her will. To do so would be selfish, and evil, and not true love. Only delusion.

What she wished from him, was his happiness. She wanted him to be happy. To see him smile, to hear him laugh, and to watch him live and love, was what made her heart light up. To see him happy was what made her happy. Yes, she would compete for Ruby, and anyone else that felt the same for him, for his love- For his heart- But she wouldn't ruin her friendships or relationships with them for it. If Jaune was happier with someone else, if he chose someone else to be with, to share his love and affection, then she would bite her own tongue, hide away her own selfishness, and wish them a happy life together. All she would ask of them, one selfish request, to allow her to be by his side, through thick and thin, from now to forever.

Except if he picked Weiss. If he picked Weiss, then there was a world of hurt waiting someone. Guaranteed.

Besides, she very much doubted that Weiss would ever reciprocate any feelings for the blond boy, especially when she was now going steady with Neptune, and Jaune had given up on seeking her feelings. White Knight becoming a thing? Yeah, next thing you know there'll be a queen of the Grimm!

Somewhere in the Land of Darkness, Salem sneezed. Huh, allergy season must be kicking in early.

"Hey guys!" Pyrrha was broken out of her thoughts by the familiar voice, and she and Ruby looked behind themselves to see the familiar form of Jaune Arc, boxes in hand, walking up to them down the hallway, a cheery smile on him, "Glad I found you, almost ran out."

Pyrrha and Ruby smiled at the sight of Jaune, but they both clocked an eyebrow at the latter half of his sentence, and then Pyrrha asked, "Is this you finally revealing to us what you were up to last night, and may I ask what's in the boxes as well?", Pyrrha had been woken up last night by Jaune coming back in and to bed, though when she'd quietly asked where he'd been, he'd said that he'd tell her tomorrow. Pyrrha wasn't sure if she should've been exited or not, considering the day.

"Wait, what were you doing last night?" Ruby asked, her head cocked to the side.

"Baking!" he happily said as he stopped right next to them. The stack of boxes in his hands would've kept his head obscured if he hadn't been poking his head out to the side.

"Wait, baking?"

"Yep", he said, gently putting down the tall stack of boxes, and opening up the top one to show the contents inside, revealing what few strawberry tipped chocolate cupcakes were still inside, "I was baking cupcakes last night for everyone."

A very pleasantly sweet smell invaded the nostrils of both Pyrrha and Ruby, and the 1 and a half redheads couldn't stop themselves from taking a long whiff of the cupcakes, before Ruby jumped up and went, "Oh my goodness they smell so good!"

Pyrrha nodded and went, "They do smell exceptionally nice, Jaune", unlike Ruby, she did a much better job at making sure that her sudden greed for these treats was hidden.

"Aw, c'mon guys, you're exaggerating", Jaune went as he rubbed the back of his head, "And besides, these aren't my best."

"They're not?" Pyrrha asked, surprised. She hadn't even tasted one yet and already she'd never smelt anything as good.

"Nah, I've made at home in our bakery", he put his hand down, "I'd sometimes help out with Violet and my mum with the cakes."

"Bakery?" Pyrrha began, "You told me that your family owned a tavern?"

"Yeah, and you told me and Blake that your mum and dad owned a hairdressers", Ruby added.

"We do", Jaune said, quickly pulling out his scroll and pulling up a photo of him and his family outside of a 3 property building made up of a bakery, a tavern, and a hairdressers, all of which had the Arc family logo on them, "Gotta make money somehow."

""Ah"", was their reply.

"Wait, what'd you mean you made these for everyone?" Ruby asked, an eyebrow raised.

"I made them for everyone", Jaune replied. When it was obvious that that wasn't a satisfactory answer for the both of them, he then went with, "Okay, Valentine's Day is all about love, right?"

""Right"", they both replied.

"And I love all my friends, being my teammates, your teammates Ruby, CFVY, SSSN, etc, which is platonic love. And platonic love is still a form of love, correct?"

""Correct"", Pyrrha, and evidently Ruby as well, were a bit disappointed at the P word being used.

"So, I've made you all cupcakes, to show how much I care about you all!"

Ruby and Pyrrha looked to each other, then back to Jaune, and then they giggled and chuckled respectively. This was very much something that he would do.

"Hm, well then, I must say, they do look go, and don't you go saying that they aren't", Pyrrha chuckled, "May I please-"

"Way ahead of you, Pyr", Jaune went as he pulled out and presented to them 2 of the chocolate cupcakes from the top box, "For you lovely ladies."

Pyrrha and Ruby blushed, and Ruby dramatically waved her hand as she put her other to her cheek and went, "Oh stop you", in a posh accent, before taking the cupcake from his one hand, and Pyrrha taking the other. Ruby then awkwardly pressed her feet together and went, "Um, hey Jaune, er, do you mind if we hang out tonight? Er, I don't have a Valentine's, and I've got Arachnid Boy: Into the Spider-Web on TV, if you wanna watch it together?"

"What, you don't have a Valentine's?" Jaune genuinely asked, and when Ruby nodded, he muttered, "First Velvet, now you... What is it with men these days?" he paused for a few moments, before turning to Pyrrha, and asking, "Hey, Pyrrha, do we have a training session tonight, or-"

"No, we don't", Pyrrha went. Jaune tilted his head to the side, and she then said, "No, I don't have one either", Jaune sighed and nodded in response. Pyrrha knew that he understood why she didn't have a Valentine's. What, with everyone seeing themselves as not good enough for her, and leaving her lonely at the top.

Jaune paused, before asking, "So, is it alright if I-"

"Yes, yes, of course, go do as you please", Pyrrha responded, her smile a little more fake now.

Jaune didn't notice this, but Ruby did, and she then went, "Er, wait, Pyrrha, if I'm interrupting-"

"Oh no, I don't have any plans for myself tonight, and I do believe that Team JNPR's Fearless Leader has come far enough to have a break for one day", she paused, before going, "Go on, do as you must."

"Oh, thanks Pyrrha. You know, I think if you ask Nora and Ren if you could hang out with them, they'd say yes. Might's well make a night of it, I suppose", his words hurt her, though she knew that they weren't meant to. Jaune then turned to Ruby, and said, "Okay then, I've just gotta hand out these last few cupcakes, sort out these boxes, do a little bit of studying, then after that, we can hang out. Does that sound good to you, Rubes?"

"Oh, um, yeah. Yes, it does", Ruby nervously, yet also excitedly from the looks of it, then said, "Hey, I've gotta do some studying and all of that tonight as well. I'll probably be done by 7. Is that okay with you, Jaune?"

"Ah, of course. Don't bend or break your schedule or studies for the likes of me, Ruby. Take as long as you need", Jaune assured, before picking up the boxes from the floor, and then going, "Hey, I gotta go hand out the rest of these cupcakes to everyone. Have a happy Valentine's Day, Pyrrha, and go hang out with Ren and Nora. Consider that an order."

"Of course, Jaune", Pyrrha went, holding back the temptation to do a salute.

"You have a good Valentine's Day too, Ruby", Jaune went to the Red Reaper as he began to walk away, "Text me when you're done, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah okay then. See you later Jaune", Ruby waved.

"See you later, Rubes, have fun, happy Valentine's Day", and with that, Jaune marched down the hallway, stopping in place to hand 2 cupcakes to a second year called Iris Marilla and her date, before going on his way once more, disappearing down the hallway and around the corner.

Pyrrha spared a glance down the hallway where her partner once was.

She then looked to Ruby.

She then looked once more down the corridor and supressed a saddened sigh.

_Whatever makes you happy._

* * *

"Er, hey, um, Pyrrha?" Ruby began, nervously shuffling the cupcake in her hand and she looked up at the Amazonian gladiator, "S-Sorry, about, er, you know...", the words were unsaid, and Ruby was unsure if her apology was genuine or just for Pyrrha's sake.

"It's fine, Ruby, really", Pyrrha assured her. Ruby was relieved with her answer, internally sighing in relief, then quickly admonishing herself.

_It's really not_, Ruby thought, pondering on what to say next, before settling with, "I mean, um, I know, t-that you-"

"Ruby", Pyrrha's voice was more stern, this time, but there was that same gentleness within it, "It's fine, trust me."

"O-Okay then", said Ruby.

There was a silence between them, both of the girls unsure of what to say next. Truthfully, Ruby was unsure if she even wanted to say anything, and to just leave the conversation at that awkward point. After all, she tended to thrive in social awkwardness, so this was really no difference then literally any other interaction or conversation that she's ever had. Ever.

However, she knew that she should at least say something to Pyrrha, as an apology. As a sort of 'Sorry for hogging your crush', or something like that. Ruby was aware that the older girl had strong feelings for Jaune, and she knew that it hurt her when he started hanging out with other girls who might steal his heart away from her. Ruby should know. She... Well, yeah. She felt the same as well.

She tried to form words in her mouth. She tried to say something. A cheery compliment. A remorseful apology. A comment that she'd be routing for her to win in the great quest for the knight's heart.

"..."

"..."

Nothing. Nothing.

Ruby didn't want to say that she'd be routing for her to win in the great quest for the knight's heart. She didn't want to apologise for taking time away from Pyrrha with Jaune.

She didn't want to see Pyrrha with Jaune. She wanted Jaune to herself.

She'd first discovered that her feelings for Jaune- How she felt about him- After the school dance, when she'd heard all that Jaune had said and done during the dance while Ruby was off fighting that strange woman in the CCT. When she'd heard how much he'd helped people. She'd heard about how he'd helped Pyrrha with their talk, and then helping Neptune with his own insecurity, and helping him talk to Weiss, even giving up on his own crush in the process just so that she'd have a good date with Neptune. She'd even been shown a video of him going out-Shamelessly!- In a dress, just to keep a promise to Pyrrha, (She didn't care what anyone else said, that boy filled that dress out nicely) and then all of Team JNPR busting out the moves, and tearing up the dancefloor! Gods, it was awesome. Obviously not as awesome as her beloved Crescent Rose, but still, close contender.

Of course, Ruby figured that she had some sort of feelings for Jaune at least before the dance. She wasn't a believe of love at first sight, despite her love for fairy tales that had that in them, so she figured that they had been developing over time, thanks to their interactions together (She did take a drink out of his punch cup, so that was probably a sign of something), But it was only after the dance, when she learnt about all that he'd done, that she realised that her feelings may be a bit more than platonic.

The rest of her team, Weiss, Blake, and Yang, had been great at helping Ruby figure out her feelings for Jaune, feelings that she'd had and has for the first time. She'd never had a crush before, never anything like that, so all of this was still very new for her. Her team had been great at explaining what she felt for Jaune, why she always wanted to be around him, why she wanted him all to herself, why the thought of her being around other girls made her feel cold, why it made her feel angry.

And it did. The thought of Jaune being with another girl made her angry. Made her mad. The thought of him being with Pyrrha, with Velvet, with Weiss... It made her angry. The others called it jealousy. That was the name of the term. Jealousy was what she was feeling.

And it scared her.

It genuinely scared her, how angry she felt. She'd never been this angry, this mad, this jealous, and it scared her. It scared her so much. She was getting angry at her own friends over a crush! She was letting her own selfishness blind her! What was wrong with her?

She felt Pyrrha watching her, and realised that her knees were wobbling. Huh, fancy that.

"Um, Ruby?" Pyrrha asked, a worried look on her, "Are you... Are you okay?"

Ruby sighed, the words now in her mouth. Oh well, better late than never, "Pyrrha, I'm... I'm sorry."

The older girl cocked her head, "Ruby, if it is about tonight, then there-"

"No. No! No, it's not- It's not that", Ruby went, stuttering, then stopping for a few moments, before once more going, "Pyrrha, I... I like Jaune. I... I like him like you like him, Pyrrha."

"Oh", Pyrrha's surprise was a little too fake, for her liking.

Ruby didn't pay mind to it, "I've... Started feeling for him after the dance. I know that... I know that you've liked him since before the dance but... I dunno. I just... I like him a lot. I like him so much..."

Pyrrha put a hand on Ruby's shoulder, "Maybe we should talk about this in private", she went, signalling to an empty classroom.

Ruby nodded, and they headed inside the empty room and shut the door behind them, cupcakes placed on the table.

Pyrrha then went, "Ruby, you knows it's okay to feel how you-"

"But it's not!" Ruby exclaimed, face to the wall away from Pyrrha, fists shaking, cheeks as red as her cape, "It's not..."

Pyrrha gave a worried reply, "Ruby..."

"I feel selfish", Ruby went, "I feel so selfish. Oh gods, I am selfish", she paused, allowing Pyrrha anytime to interject. She didn't, so Ruby continued, "I want Jaune, all to myself. I want him to be at my side. My side", she turned to Pyrrha, eyes and face not angry or determined, but scared and confused, "I want him to be happy, I really, truly do, but when I think about him... When I imagine him with someone else... With another girl, I-I get", she looked to the ground, "So, angry. When I imagine him with you, or any other girl, I get so mad. I-I wanna...", she let the words go unsaid, "I-I know he would be better with you than me. You're you, for goodness sake. You're brave, you're strong, you're selfless, you're, yeah, you. And look at me, I'm Ruby Rose, a selfish little girl, who wants someone all to themselves, who can't stand the thought of a friend- Someone they want to be more than friends with- Even being with another girl, who gets so angry at her friends because of a stupid, oh so selfish desire", Ruby paused, "Oh god, what is wrong with me?"

Pyrrha didn't say anything for a while. Her surprise was genuine this time. There was a long silence between them, before Pyrrha went, "Ruby..."

Ruby looked up to her. Her face was red, her eyes were watery, but there were no tears down her face.

Pyrrha then asked, "Ruby, what do you want?"

Ruby shook her head a little bit, and hummed in confusion.

Pyrrha then amended herself, "Sorry, let me rephrase that: What is it, that you would like from Jaune?"

It was a question that, to Ruby's knowledge, she couldn't find, despite the phrasing. She looked back down, and took a breath. For a few moments, she was unsure herself of what she wanted, but then she found it, "I... I want Jaune all to... I want Jaune to be by my side... I don't...", she sniffled, "I don't want him to leave me... I don't want him to leave me like everyone else..."

she turned back to Pyrrha, her eyes sad and teary.

"When I was young, when I was just a toddler, my mum... She died. She left. She left me. I was too young to understand why she left, but I knew she was gone, and it took me a little longer to realise that she wasn't ever coming back... I used to hate her. I hated her for that. I hated her for leaving me. For having the gall to leave me. Still kinda do, though I know now that it was beyond my, and her, control, and there was, and still is, nothing I can or could do about it", her frown then wobbled, "In Signal, I didn't have any friends. Nobody wanted to come near a progeny, you see- 'She's a teacher's pet', they'd say, 'She's a freak', 'She thinks she's so much better than us', the works- And even if I wasn't, it's not like I could've done anything about it, you see. Social awkwardness, anxiety, it's a pain. I couldn't work up the courage to talk to anyone. Most of the people in Signal who would sometimes talk to me were my sister's friends, not mine- The topic was always on her, didn't you know?- And the few who weren't would always leave me behind. Who wants to talk to the freak? The pet? Why stay with the weirdo?", she sniffled again, "And then, on the first day of Beacon- Before Initiation- My own sister left me alone. She left me! My own sister! Do you have any idea what that feels like? And the people she left with- They weren't her friends! They were just some random group that she tagged along with, just so she didn't have to be around me anymore! And then Weiss ran into me and blamed me for her- Her!- Broken dust case, which freaking exploded in our faces, and then she blamed me for that as well, and then Blake came, talked to her, and then left as well! And there I was, a lonely freak of a girl, laying down in the middle of a crater, alone, just like always."

She looked back to the ground, a weak smile on her now.

"And then... He came. Jaune came. He gave me a hand and pulled me up. My first friend. He gave me his friendship, his kindness, and asked for nothing in return. Nothing, save for simple companionship. My first friend, and he didn't leave me. He didn't abandon me, though I abandoned him in the main auditorium for the company of my sister, much to my shame now. He helped me. He helped me by just being there... Do you know how much that meant to me, Pyrrha?... To know that for once in your life, someone was there for you? Someone wasn't going to leave you for whatever reason they had? He helped me... He was there for me, and in turn, I was there for him, just like you were as well. And then, as the days and the weeks and the months went on, I got to see more of what made him him. I saw his strengths, I saw his flaws, I saw everything that made him into the person that he is."

Ruby quivered.

"I... I-I don't want him to leave me... I don't want him to leave me like e-everyone else... I-I... I-I-I don't w-want anyone to leave me... Not again... I want him to be with me... I want Jaune to be with me, as well as you, and Yang, and Weiss, and Blake, and Ren, Nora, Penny, Velvet, Coco, Fox, Yatsuhashi… I... I..."

She paused, her breath broken up and stammered.

"I don't... I don't wanna be alone again..."

Pyrrha didn't say anything. Not for a while, at least. The 2 of them stayed where they were for a while, unmoving, unaware that the world around them even existed, until Pyrrha walked up to Ruby and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Ruby looked up, unsure of what to say or do. A single tear track stained her red cheek.

"Ruby, I...", Pyrrha stopped, and looked away for a second, before going, "I'll be honest, I'm not good with these kind of talks, or topics. But, I suppose I should be honest."

She paused, unsure of what to say.

"I don't know what the best thing to say is", she sighed, then took a deep breath, and went, "Look, it's okay to feel how you feel."

Ruby tilted her head, "Huh?"

"Ruby, it's...", Pyrrha tossed the sentence around in her head, trying to see if it was the right thing to say, "It's perfectly normal to feel how you feel, especially in a situation like yours", she was unsure of wherever what she said or not was true, but she wasn't about to correct herself, "I won't pretend that I can completely understand how you feel, but I know for a fact that what you're feeling is perfectly fine. It's okay to be scared of loss."

"B-But, what I feel is... So selfish", Ruby stammered, "I... I don't know... I don't know how..."

"Ruby, it's okay, you're not alone, and you won't ever be alone", she was now figuring out the words, "What you're feeling isn't selfish. It's something that everyone feels. It's something that everyone is scared of", she paused, "I'm scared of being on my own as well, but I know that I've got friends- I've got a family- That won't leave me. Just as you have as well. Yang, Weiss, and Blake. You love them too, don't you?"

Ruby didn't say anything for a few moments, before going, "Y-Yeah, yeah, I do. I love them all. T-They're like my sisters."

"And they love you too, you know that, right?"

"...Yeah. No matter how much of a butt Weiss can be sometimes."

Pyrrha giggled, "I thought that she was your 'Bestie better than the restie'?"

Ruby giggled as well, "Y-Yeah."

"So, you know that they won't ever leave you. They'll stay with you through thick and thin. They'll never leave you alone, not again. Just like I know that Penny won't leave you alone. I know that that girl is... Pretty possessive, of you."

"Not possessive", Ruby quietly argued, "Just... Quirky", a pause, "And eager."

Pyrrha chuckled, "Yes, yes she is, isn't she?"

Ruby looked down, chucked and nodded.

"I won't leave you either", Pyrrha affirmed, "Neither will Ren, or Nora, or Coco, or Velvet, or Fox, or Yatsuhashi. And especially not Jaune."

Ruby looked back up at her, "Pyrrha..."

"I know that he'll want to do anything to make you happy. I know that he will do anything in his power to make you happy. Whatever that might be."

"B-But...", Ruby stammered, "Don't... Don't you, um, you like him too, though..."

Pyrrha paused, before going with a soft smile, "Yes, I do, but I want him to be happy, regardless of who he is with. Sure, I would like to be in a relationship with him, but if he were to go with you, I would be fine with it."

Ruby looked at her, "S-So, um, you're-"

"I don't know", Pyrrha already knew what she was going to say, "Okay, that was a bit of a lie, pardon me", she sighed, before going, "Look, I would like to be with him as much as you do, and I can figure that soon, we'll be in some sort of, I don't know, love war to steal his heart, or something, but I don't want to ruin our friendship or any friendship over it, and in the end, I'll respect his choice. I'm going to be doing everything in my power to win his heart, just as I know you will be doing the same as well", Ruby hesitated, but then nodded in response, "But, in the end, if he were to pick you, I would, and will, respect his choice, and wish him the best. I want him to be happy, and if he's happy with you, then who am I to say otherwise?"

Ruby paused and looked down once more, fingers twiddling with each other, her face scrunched up as if in deep thought. She then took a deep breath, looked back up to her, and went, "And if he chooses you, then I'll do the same", she took another breath, and smiled, "Thanks Pyrrha, really. That- That means a lot."

"Of course, Ruby, and there's no need for thanks", Pyrrha replied earnestly, "I just felt that it would be good to be straight with each other."

"Mm", Ruby hummed, wiping her face and eyes with her sleeve, the redness of her face slowly dissipating. Then, as they walked back to the table with the cupcakes on, Ruby then looked to Pyrrha and asked, "Wait, doesn't this technically make us love rivals, or something? Should we really be talking to each other?"

Pyrrha chuckled, "Well, we might be, as you say, love rivals, and we'll be competing for the same man's heart, but I don't think we should break off our friendship over it, nor would we. It does seem like a silly thing to waste a perfectly good friendship on, plus, this isn't a soap opera, so I very much doubt that we would."

"Ooh, don't talk to me about soap operas, please, I never liked them, always found them boring, but Weiss loves them for some reason", Ruby went, as they both arrived at the table and took their cupcakes back.

"Ruby Rose not liking something?" Pyrrha faked gasped, "My, such shock."

"Oh shush", Ruby went, as she unwrapped her cupcake, "We really should discuss this further, you know, get this all out of the air and all that."

"Well, we've got an empty room, 2 cupcakes, and all of the time in the world", Pyrrha went, as she unwrapped her cupcake, "I agree, we should hash this all out."

They bit into their cupcakes, and came to a compromise.

* * *

Jaune smiled, empty boxes in hand. He'd done it. He'd handed out all of his cupcakes to everyone that he knew, and many more. He'd handed them out to the newcomers for the Vytal Festival from all across the kingdoms and Remnant, such as Scarlet David, Bolin Hori, May Zedong, Gwen Darcy, Emerald Sustrai, Reese Chloris, Dew Gayl, Brawnz Ni, Mercury Black, Ciel Soleli, Nadir Shiko, Cinder Fall, Nolan Porfirio, and that one other girl with the black hair and green eyes that Jaune couldn't remember (What was her name, Mint, or something? Ah, he'd remember sooner or later), as well as the different students in Beacon as well, such as Matera Teale (Or Tusks, as everyone referred to him as, because of the 2 large tusks in his jaw), Esper Fyre, Sora Auburn, and Lavender Nera from Team TEAL, Razor Azure and Curia Query from Team RCOR (Razor), Skipjack (Censure Taboon), Scrapster (Sierra Nama) Sledge and Hammer (Toland Noire and his mechanical pet bird that could shift into a steampunk hammer), and Mixer (Racier Galahad) from Team CSTR, or the Constructors, as they liked to be called (They liked to pick nicknames for themselves), as well as Vera Vermillion and Kay Nin from what teams that he couldn't remember, and everyone in his inner circle of friends as well.

Except CRDL. Screw those guys.

Jaune was tempted to start juggling the empty boxes in his hands as he walked to the JNPR dorm room, a spring in his steps, and a smile upon him. From the looks of it, everyone seemed to enjoy his cupcakes a lot. From the looks that he had gotten when he had been handing them out, they seemed to be enjoying them a hell of a lot, and they hadn't even been eating them yet... Hm, strange.

He thought back to the previous night, his mind floating back to when he had been baking and observing and experimenting. Experimenting with his aura... Surely not, it couldn't be... And yet, it could, couldn't it? He didn't feel anything when he was trying to push his aura into the cupcakes. Nothing happened... That he knew of, of course. He had a lot of aura, didn't he? That's what Pyrrha said. Perhaps a bit came out and he just didn't notice. He didn't know.

Jaune rounded the corner to the corridor that held the entrances to the RWBY and JNPR dorms, and was about to open the door to his dorm when, down the other intersection on the opposite side of the corridor, out of the corner of his ear, he could hear... Groaning?

Was someone injured? Jaune put the boxes down, and went to investigate. It sounded like someone was hurt. He should go and see what's up. See if anyone was injured. He rounded the opposite corner, and looked to the side. Was it Nora again? Ugh, if she ate all of that buttercream from the school kitchen again, swear to gods, well, he couldn't really do much, he supposed, save give her a stern OH MY GOOD OGILY MOGILY.

In the corridor, there was Neon and Flynt. Both shamelessly naked. Both covered in sweat. Both panting and moaning. Neon laid on top of Flynt, both of them with a punch drunk expression on their faces, Flynt's… Dongle, doing the Who Hah with Neon's dodo, and Neon's tail...

Well his butt was gonna be sore in the morning.

Then, he realised, as he looked down the corridor, there were other couples as well, doing the Who Ha with each other, grunting and panting and moaning and the like, and when he looked down the other corridor, he saw nothing but the same and oh goodness why hadn't he noticed this earlier?!

Welp, it appeared that someone scheduled a Valentine's Day orgy, so okay then, he was gonna go back into his dorm room and hide for the rest of the day. That seemed like the safest-

A whistle stopped him in place. He looked behind him again to see Neon looking right at him. Not in his general direction, but right at him, looking right into his eyes, and staring into his soul. She raised herself up, sitting on Flynt's waist, her back arched backwards, the boy underneath letting out a gurgled moan in response, too dazed to even register anything around him, having been done silly, and almost asleep in exhaustion.

There was still chocolate around Neon's lips. She noticed this, and, without breaking eye contact, a sultry look upon her naked, sweating form, she licked her lips, grabbing the rest of the chocolate icing with her tongue, and stuck it out, letting it rest and melt on the tip of her tongue for Jaune to see, before swallowing it, and letting out a coy, sultry giggle, leaning forward a tad, and mouthing off words that Jaune couldn't hear, but could tell:

_Come here, babe._

Jaune was immediately blushing and became oh so flustered, putting his hands on his face, and bashfully going "SORRY!" and ran back down the corridor to the boxes and his dorm, a coy laugh echoing past him.

"Aw, come here, Jauney-Boy~", came the singsong, sultry echo from down the corridor, "I wanna thank you for the cupcakes~"

Jaune's thoughts right now were an incoherent mess of babbles, noises, and attempts at words, and attempting to communicate them would probably only make Neon happier at the situation, so instead, he decided to just grab his boxes, and hide away in his room, and-

More moaning, coming from the RWBY dorm, their dorm room door open just a bit. Where they... Was there really...

Oh, damn you natural curiosity!

He cringed, and peeked through the door, looking at the room insid- HOLY MOLY!

Weiss desk disorganised!

One of the bunkbeds destroyed!

Yang, Blake, and Sun having a 3 way on the floor!

Zwei humping Blake's pillow!

…Oh wait that last one was normal.

But wait, what was this? Was that... Weiss and Neptune sloppily making out on Weiss' bed!

Okay, dude, sure he was happy for them, but they didn't need to flaunt it. Then again, he was the one peeping on them, so he was the one in the wrong here.

Deciding that enough was enough, he quickly walked away from the dorm room, picked up the boxes once again, and opened the door to his dorm room. Welp, time to hide in bed for the rest of the day until he wakes up and discovers that this is all part of some weird M rated drea-

_OH COME ON!_, he thought as he dropped his boxes and jaw onto the floor.

On the remains of what looked like a recently destroyed table, in the kitchen section of the dorm, Ren and Nora- REN AND NORA!- Were doing the Who Ha as well, both of them panting and as punch drunk as the other- Wait, Ren and Nora?

Ren and Nora?

Ren.

And.

Nora.

…

_Yes, yes, this pleases me_, Jaune thought as he took a sip out of his favourite 'Renora foreva' cup.

"Oh Fearless Leader~"

The Fearless Leader in question quickly spit out the contents of his drink and dropped his favourite 'Renora foreva' cup as he quickly did a double take and looked to where the familiar voice came from, only to see Nora looking at him with an unusually, and somewhat eerily calm look on her face.

Yep, 'Nora', and 'Calm', in the same sentence. Let that sink in.

Ren was also calm, as usual, but this only seemed to be because he was completely and utterly ragged, and was wheezing for breath, his eyes glazed over and his chest rapidly raising and lowering. If one kept perfectly still, they could probably feel the vibrations of his rapid heartbeat on the ground.

Goodness, someone get the poor man to a doctor before he dies from Snu Snu! Or a heart attack. Whichever one came first.

Nora let out a perverse giggle, her lips coiling to a sly smile, and she then said, almost whispered in fact, "Hey, Jaune-Jaune~ Thanks for the cupcakes earlier, they were just", she paused, arched her head up, and let out a sigh before looking back down, "So~ Good~"

"Er", Jaune went, trying to cover his eyes with his fingers and hands, "G-Glad I could... Er, glad that you, um, liked... Them... So much... Er, I-I'm, er… I'm gonna-"

"Ooh, found your desk tidy by the way~", Nora went as she reached to the side, and pulled to her a familiar piece of desk equipment, covered in pancake batter and syrup, "It turns out that I did still it. Sorry, Jaune-Jaune."

"Er, well, er, that's, um, that's okay, um, Nora", Jaune stammered, "It's fine, um, yeah, it's all good, it was never a big deal to begin with, okay, I'm gonna go now", he went as he began to turn around, and went for the door.

"Oh, Jauney, I really am sorry~", Nora went, arching forward a little, "And I really wanna make it up to you, you know~"

"Oh, that's okay, that's fine, Nora, now if you'll-"

"Aw, come on, Jauney", Nora giggled, leaning in closer to ren, placing her hands on his chest, eyes and head still looking at Jaune's back, "I can make you feel really nice, you know~ I can make you feel really good~", she giggled, "I promise..."

She placed her head against Ren's bare chest.

"I'll~ Be~ Gentle~"

_Something tells me you really won't_, "Really glad, Nora, but I'm gonna have to turn down your offer and leave you to it and I'm gonna go now bye have a good day! Night! Whatever!"

Nora made a cute pout, and giggled, "Aw, and I- Oh yeah, I gave them my cupcake, didn't I?" huh?, "Oh, okay then. Run along, Jaune-Jaune~", she giggled, and made a knowing smile, "I'm sure there's someone out there waiting for you~"

_I really doubt that_, Jaune thought as he quickly ran through the door and shut it behind him with a {SLAM}, the vibrations of the impact felt through the walls and floor.

He sighed, "What is going on, today?" he muttered, sweat from stress on his brow. He then clutched his fist, and resolved to find the deepest hole and hide their until the end of the day. Or until Ruby texted him telling him that she was free to hang out. He made a promise to her, after all, and an Arc-

A pair of hands slivered beneath his arms and reached around his chest. A tail wrapped around his leg.

"Aw, you know it's rude to walk away when someone's talking to you~", Neon went, her voice barely a whisper, a Cheshire smile on her face, and a sultry tone in her voice, "I wanted to give myself to you and Flynt, and then not only did you leave, you went to someone else to satisfy you~", Neon pouted and tilted her head to the side, "Am I not good enough for you?~"

"I- Wha- NEON!" Jaune yelped, her bare chest pressing against his back, "A-Aren't you w-with F-F-Flynt?"

Neon chuckled, and then leaned into his ear, "I'm willing to share~"

"Gah- EH!?" Jaune went, his arms flailing from side to side as he tried to comprehend Neon's words, her hands and tail still snaking around him, "Wha- Neon! What are you-"

"I'm copping a feel~", Neon went, her hands now sliding down his waist, her tail snaking and slivering up his leg, reaching for that forbidden zone, "Mmm~", she hummed, her eyes half lidded and glazed over, her tongue out and panting, "I wonder... What kind of sword have you got down there?~" she sighed, "A great sword, perhaps?~" her hands and tail reached his waist, "Or maybe a-"

"NEON STOP IT!" Jaune yelled as he tried to pry her hands away, "I DON'T WANNA DO THIS!"

Neon paused, her hands loosening, her tail coming undone from her leg, "You don't wanna... You don't do this with me?"

"Wha- No, no I don't", Jaune went, as he managed to pull her hands away, and face her. Her face was saddened now, what looked like a shock of realisation came upon her, though the same look in her eyes- A look clouded by love and lust- Remained as strong as always.

"Oh... Oh gods... What did I do?... What did I almost do?...", Neon muttered to herself, before looking up to Jaune, then looking down at the floor, and going, "I'm sorry, Jaune, I'm- Oh god... I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I'm stupidly sorry. I-I almost- I mean, I didn't-"

"Neon, Neon, look- Look at me", Jaune went. Neon hesitantly looked up, her eyes watery, "It's okay, it's okay, really, it's fine. It's alright."

"It's really not", Neon said, a silence coming over them for a while, before Neon went, "Can I, um, can I at least... Thank you? Nothing sexual or anything like that, t-trust me, but... Um... Yeah."

"Um, er", Jaune stammered, unsure of what to do, before going, "It's really no, um, it's really no problem, um, it's-"

Neon silenced him by taking his right hand with her 2, gently removing the fingerless glove that clothed his hand, before planting a gentle kiss on it, a small pink and brown lip stain on his hand remaining there, and then looking up and approaching Jaune. The boy stammered and took a nervous step back, before Neon gently took his shoulders and planted another gentle, soothing kiss on his neck, before stepping onto her toes, and placing her lips on his cheek, staying there for a long moment or 2, before stepping down, taking another back, and going, "Thank you."

"Er, um, right, yeah, er", Jaune stammered, feeling the marks on his neck and cheek, and blushing quite a bit.

Neon giggled into her hand, "Velvet was right."

Jaune paused, "Right about what?"

Neon tilted her head to the side, "You really are adorable when you're flustered."

The Arc Scion did a double take, "Wait, w-what?! She said...", he stopped, spying 3 pairs of prying eyes gazing at them from beyond a door crack down the corridor, 1 pair silver, another emerald, the last chocolate, all of them with pink love hearts where the pupils should be.

Neon noticed this, and giggled, tugging at Jaune's hand once more, pulling him along to the door, the coy look that she once wore now returned, "You know, you may not want to do it with myself or Flynt (I'd kinda hoped you'd go with Flynt, that would've been hot~), But, didn't you know, I think I can take a guess at a few people who you really would like to", she paused in her speech, a Cheshire smile on her lips, "Have words with~"

"Wha- Neon, what are you doing!?" Jaune went, obviously not wanting a repeat of what had just happened a minute ago, but Neon silenced him once more.

"Oh, hush now, Jauney-Boy, I know for a fact that these girls love you a whole lot~ They practically worship you, and not in the creepy, stalkery shrine building way, but in the, you know, genuinely loving, compassionate way. And I also know for a fact that they won't do anything to you against your will. They'll tease you, ask you if you wanna go in head first, and when you say yes- 'Cause I'm fairly certain you will- They do everything in their power to make your experience with them the happiest that you'll ever beAUGH!"

Neon was enveloped by a purple glow, and quickly tossed down the corridor, sliding down to the opposite side of the hallway and skidding to a halt on her back, letting out a pained groan as she lazily rubbed her back with her tail. Jaune quickly looked behind him to see one angry looking- Actually, scratch that, angry doesn't begin to cover it!- Miss Glynda Goodwitch staring right down at him, crop in hand with a fading purple glow coming from it.

"Er, h-hey, oh, hello, greetings, good afternoon, Miss Goodwi-"

"You can cease with the pleasentries, Mister Arc. However, what you can start with is how and why you drugged half the school into an aphrodisiac fuelled indecency frenzy!" as if to emphasise her point, the echoes of 2 men letting out a loud moan travelled down the hallway, "Case in point!"

"Wait, drugged?! What?!" Jaune went, raising his hands up in defense, "W-What?! I never- What?! I never drugged the school! What are you talking about!?"

"Oh, well then, if you did not drug the school like you have said, then I must say, that it surely must just be a coincidence that all of the students that are taking part in these... Carnal acts", she stressed the last 2 words, her grip on her crop tightening, "Just so happened to have eaten your cupcakes!?"

"Yeah, it's just a- Wait what?!" Jaune went as he quickly waved his hands around, "What, no, wait, Miss Goodwitch, this is all a big misunderstanding! I never put anything bad or anything like that in my cupcakes! I followed my family recipe for them, made the icing for them, topped them off with a strawberry slice each, then I didn't think they were good enough at all, so then I figured that I should start all over again, but it was getting late, and I didn't have the time to do so, bit then I thought, 'What if I try to use my aura to boost them and make them better just like you'd do with weapons, so I tries to do it- I held my hands out and everything- But that didn't do anything, so I then-"

"Wait, Mr Arc, pause for a second", Miss Goodwitch held her hand out to motion him to stop talking, "You tried to use your aura to boost your cupcakes'... Flavour, I presume?" Jaune nodded, "And you thought it didn't work?" another nod. Miss Goodwitch adjusted her glasses, and went, "An... Interesting... Experiment, Mr Arc. One which I am fairly certain you succeeded at."

"Huh?" Jaune tilted his head.

"Mr Arc, do you know what specific chemicals are in chocolate and strawberries?"

"Er... Cocoa?"

"Tryptophan and phenylethylamine for chocolate, and magnesium, potassium, and folate in strawberries, all of which help to increase the serotonin levels within the human/Faunus body."

"...Er-"

"Serotonin is related to sexual drive, Mr Arc."

"Oh... Ooooh", came the slow realisation. Jaune looked down, and began to fidget on the spot, his hands wrapping around each other uncomfortably, and his face becoming as red as the strawberries he'd inadvertently supercharged.

"Mr Arc, remember when we agreed that I'd keep silent about you using the kitchen supplies if you gave me a cupcake?"

The poor boy looked up, "Um, yea-"

"No you don't."

"Oh, a- Aw", Jaune went as he slumped back down, oblivious to the sound of a door opening near him, "Aw craAUGH!" he went as he felt a familiar pair of hands grab him by the clothes on his back and sling him into the open room.

"Sorry Jauney-Boy, but we girls need to look out for each other!" Neon chirped with a mischievous smile as she watched Jaune hit the ground of the dark, seemingly empty room with a loud {THUD}, groaning as he tried to get back up. Neon then looked past him and went, "Go easy on him, girls, he hasn't had his cherry popped yet!"

"Neon! Language young lady!" Miss Goodwitch went, before looking in the room, sighing, muttering something about someone finally getting around to doing something or other, and then went, "I'll be taking him away once you're done", Jaune was too dazed to inquire as to what she meant before the professor used her semblance to close the door, leaving the room in darkness.

"Oh my gods, it's a cute little bunny!" went Neon from behind the door. It was at that moment when Jaune realised that Neon had somehow taken off his chest armour, jumper, and shirt in the space of one second when she was throwing him. Jaune would've questioned it, but after living in Beacon for so long, especially with people like Nora, he'd learnt that the phrase 'Just go with it' was one of the most sacred laws of life.

Jaune tried to sit upright once more, but was stopped by a warm, almost boiling hot pair of hands carefully taking the back of his head, and gently placing it on a warm pair of folded bare legs. A soft giggle cut through the silence of the room, and Jaune could just make out the outline of 2 bunny ears sitting atop the head of the figure who had his head in her lap, "V... Velvet?"

The bunny faunus giggled again, and folded her head down a little more, allowing Jaune to see more of her. Her eyes, from what he could see, were misty and glazed over, just like Nora and Neon's. Strangely enough, her pupils seemed to have changed into love hearts, pink and glowing, "Remember 2 nights ago, Jaune, when we sat like this? When it was just you and me, gazing up into the stars, doing nothing but talking, laying our souls bare to each other' in such a delicate, beautiful moment of peace?" she leaned in closer to him, her eyes lining up with his, "You have no idea how happy I was at that moment. To have you there, such a delicate, beautiful flower in my care, in my arms, where I can and could show it all of the love that I felt for it, but was too scared to say anything about it, too cowardly to say to the one person who means so much to me", she shuffled around, removing his head from her lap, and gently placing it down on the carpeted floor, so that she could lean in, and whisper, "I love you, my Jaune", she sighed as she said those words, "My knight, my chosen", she paused, "I love you."

Jaune paused, and stammered, his face and body heating up and becoming red like roses. He looked at Velvet's outline in the dark, chocolate eyes glowing in the night, gazing into his ocean blue, and found himself without words for a while, before going, "Velvet, I... I... I don't...", Velvet looked worried for a moment, "I don't know what... What to- To say..."

"Then don't say anything, Jaune", another familiar voice called out through the dark, and the Arc Scion tilted his head to his left, only to see another outline in the dark of a bare woman crawling up to them on all fours, emerald green eyes punctuated by pink hearts looking down at him with such care and affection in them, "Just let us show you how much you mean to us", a pair of hands took his left, and began to fondle the skin, before lifting it up and laying a warm, soft cheek on in it's curved grip.

A giggle on his right, and he looked to see a smaller, but no less feminine body next to him, silver coloured eyes with pink heart pupils glowing in the night, and a soft hand came to rest on his chest, made bare by Neon previously, placing her hand right where his heart should be, feeling the soft vibrations in them. Another giggle, "Yeah, so don't be such a fudy dudy, Vomit Boy~", a coy chuckle, and the hand began to feel his chest more, "Just let us take care of it all~ Let us care for you~", the feminine figure leaned in close, her mouth to his ear, and whispered, "We'll make you feel so good~"

"P-P-Pyrrha?! Ruby?!" he urgently whispered, feeling the Red Reaper's hands now move about him, while the amazonian kept his left hand to her cheek, and began to stroke it, freeing one of her own hands and using it to feel the muscles on his arm. Another pair of hands took his cheeks and began to gently stroke them.

"And Velvet too, don't forget~", Velvet coyly went, as she leaned in close, and pecked his forehead, staying there for a moment or 2 before releasing, and kissing another part of his forehead. Pyrrha, making out what was going on in the dark, leaned forward, releasing Jaune's hand from her grip, and stole a kiss from him, her tongue licking and tasting his lips, staying like that for who knows how long, before pulling away, allowing Velvet to come down and, true to her semblance, mimic her movements and actions, her ears curling as she tasted the Arc boy, lips and tongue prying and tasting Jaune's lips, before pulling away, and then looking at Pyrrha, the 2 of them smiling, nodding, and stealing a kiss from each other, tasting themselves and Jaune between them as they massaged each other's lips with their own.

"Naughty~", Pyrrha cooed once they disengaged from each other, a string of saliva between her and Velvet's mouths, one which Velvet happily curled and lapped up, eagerly taking it for herself.

Ruby giggled, "I think Jaune likes it~", she said in such a sultry tone, almost a whisper, as her hands now traced his stomach, feeling the foundations and beginnings of abs and firm skin around his waist, "Oh, Pyrrha, Velvet, it's so soft, yet so firm, so warm", she laid her head against his stomach, rubbing it with her cheek a few times, "I could stay like this forever~"

Pyrrha and Velvet chuckled in unison, and they came back down to Jaune's level, leaning forward, and laying kisses upon his body, Velvet kissing his forehead and cheeks, Pyrrha his chest, and then Ruby his waist, right on each of his developing abs, before she caught her fingers around his trouser waist, and giggled, "Mm, Jaune, I can't wait to show you how much I love you~"

Okay, this had gotta stop, "R-Ruby! RUBY! PYRRHA! VELVET! STOP IT STOP IT YOU'RE NOT THINKING STRAIGHT THE CUPCAKES WERE DRUGGED!"

That got the 3 of them to stop and look at him, """Huh?""" they looked worried, confused, and a little bit angry, at least, as far as he could see, beckoning him to explain.

"T-The cupcakes... When I made them- W-Well, a-after I made them- I-I-I thought that they w-weren't g-good enough, s-so then, I-I thought, well, a-aura makes our swords and junk b-better, s-so I thought, w-why not t-t-try the s-same t-thing on food?"

The 3 of them tilted their heads at the same time, hearing his words, his stammers and stutters and splutters. They looked to each other, and then back to him as they absorbed his words.

"S-So then, I-I tried to do th-the thing w-with the au-aura", he began once more, raising his hands to his face to hide his watering eyes, "A-A-And I t-tried to make t-them t-taste bet-better, bu-but I did-didn't think that it- That it did a-anything, but I co-couldn't feel it, but it- It actually worked, b-but it t-turned them in-into ap-aphrodisiacs, b-because my aura h-had boosted t-the ch-chemicals in them", Jaune's voice started to pick up speed, "A-And then I handed them a-all out to the rest of the school, and then I gave th-them to you, and now you're all drugged up, and not thinking straight, and then Goodwitch told me what I did, and it's all my fault, b-because I'm a useless idiot", he stopped, a wet streak running past his hands covering his face, "Oh god I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm-"

Ruby climbed over Jaune, her arms and legs where his were, gently pried away the hands covering his face, and planted a kiss on his lips, sighing as she tasted his own. At the same time, Pyrrha and Velvet laid down next to him, and serviced his neck and tear stained cheeks, peppering kisses over them, and wiping away his watery streaks.

Ruby removed her lips from his own, and looked into his eyes, his pure eyes as blue and deep as the biggest oceans, "Jaune, we are thinking clearly. We're thinking straight. We're not blinded by lust. We really do want to do this all with you."

"We want to reward you for all that you've done for us", Pyrrha went, taking her own turn in kissing him.

"We want to show you how much we love you", Velvet said after Pyrrha had ceased her kiss with him, and before she'd moved her lips unto his.

"And we really do love you", Ruby finished off, her smile, like Pyrrha's and Velvet's, gentle, caring, and loving.

Jaune didn't know what to say. Had they not just been listening to him? Had they not heard what he'd just said? Once Velvet moved away from him again, he tried to start up again, "B-But... The cupcakes... It's not genuine, it's-"

"Jaune, please don't belittle our love like that", Ruby went, her smile now turned into a sad frown, "Please don't say it isn't genuine. Please don't say that you're worth and are less than you are, because you're not. You're so much more, and you're worth more than the stars in the night sky. Our love for you, it is real, it is right, it is the truth, not blinded by lust, but empowered by itself. You've been so kind to us, so caring, so forgiving, so affectionate, so brave, so loving, that it would be foolish to think that you could never steal our hearts, much less anyone else's heart, soul, and affection as well", she paused, considering her words, before settling with, "Weiss is a butt for never getting with you. She threw away such an amazing thing."

Pyrrha frowned a little at the though, but Velvet's giggles at Weiss' new designation helped to bring her out of it.

"You helped me up, on the first day of Beacon, when nobody else did. You were there for me, whenever I needed it", Ruby began, "You gave me so much warmth, so much love, so much affection, and asked for nothing in return, save for companionship. How could you not steal away my heart, my knight?"

"You never cared about my ears. You never cared about me being different than anyone else because of what I was", Velvet went into his right ear, "To you, there was nothing different from me to everybody else. There was but a sad girl who needed cheering up, a stranger who had yet to become a friend. You took my heart away, my chosen. You took my heart, and I've been chasing it ever since."

"You never put me on a pedestal. You never saw me as anything more or less. No one else did that. No one else has ever done that. No one else has ever granted me that wish. Not Weiss, not Yang, not even Ren or Nora", Pyrrha cooed into his left ear, "But you did. You granted me that wish. You saw me for who I was. You saw Pyrrha Nikos, and not the fiction that has been built around me. You gave me a shoulder to cry on, a companion to laugh with, to confide to, to talk to, to just be with. But more than that, my love, you gave me a friend, and that is so much more than I could ever ask for."

"You've shown us so much love, my- Sorry, old habits- Our Jaune, our knight, our champion, our chosen, our love", Ruby went, cupping Jaune's cheeks with her hands and caressing them ever so fondly, "So please, let us show you how much you mean to us. Let us give you so much pleasure, so much comfort, so much happiness, so much, and yet never come to a fraction of what you have given us."

The left hand left his right cheek, and a clicking sound soon went through the room, followed by the light from a lamp, protected by a lamp shade, filling up the room, allowing Jaune to see the 3 women around him. All of them were naked, all of them had their hair loose from any previous bindings, and all of them were red and brimming with heat, especially from between their legs.

Pyrrha was the most muscular of the group, her more feminine attributes, such as her curves and breasts and what not, as well as her bronze skin, were seasoned with the outlines of hardened muscles and a strong six pack on her stomach, though not so much that they bulged out and took up all of the attention from her, thereby not sacrificing anything else that made her extremely attractive.

Velvet was by far the most feminine, her skin was light and as pure and pale as snow, her feminine attributes such as her thighs and breasts were reasonably sized but not so meaty, and her waist was slim, as were her arms and legs, with little traces of fat or flabby flesh around her, with little muscle on her, it seemed, though that sacrificed hardly anything, leading to an extremely attractive female, with, like Pyrrha, ticks in all of the right boxes.

Ruby was the smallest of the group, and by far the daintiest, with traces of baby fat here and there on her, which only helped to make her cuter. Even then, traces and signs of muscles and hardened skin sat on her arms and legs thanks to her usage of the unorthodox weapon that was Crescent Rose, and she nevertheless had the more feminine traits around her as well, with small, but modest breasts atop her chest, a slim waist and curved thighs, as well as smooth skin all around, punctuated here and there by the occasional mole.

Ruby grabbed something next to the lamp, and unwrapped it, "Nora was so kind as to give us her cupcake when we asked, when we'd made our intentions clear to her, what we wished to do. She was so sorry about what happened with your desk tidy, and she so wanted to make it up to you", she tilted her head to the side, "I hope you can forgive her soon", when Jaune replied that he'd already forgiven her, Ruby replied with, "Oh, I'm so glad."

She presented the cupcake to him, guiding it to his mouth like he were a baby, and she his mother.

"Now, come on~", she cooed, presenting the cupcake to him, letting it hover right over his mouth, "Take a bite, will you please? Take a big bite, then afterwards, we'll show you the most amazing pleasure, the deepest amount of love, the best that we have to offer~ We'll make all of your naughtiest dreams come true~", the last sentence, she said in a husky, seductive tone, her eyes half lidded, and glazed with love.

Then, Pyrrha gently pressed her hand against Ruby's wrist, and pushed it away. With a worried look, she looked at Jaune, and went, "Do you want to do this, Jaune? Do you want to be with us? Will you let us do all of this?" Jaune looked confused, so Pyrrha continued, "I don't want to do any of this without knowing that you want to do this as well. We can't make love to you if you don't want to either."

"Pyrrha's right, love", Velvet said, "We won't do anything to you unless you want to as well, so if you wish to back out now, then by all means. We will understand if you don't want to do this. We'll still love you. We'll still want to be with you. We will never stop caring about you. Just remember that."

"And remember", Pyrrha continued, "If you do agree, then you can back out anytime that you want during our love making. You can stop if it's getting too much, if you don't like it anymore, if you can't through with it."

"The safeword is Pumpkin Pete", Velvet teased with a coy grin.

"Oh hush, you", Pyrrha quietly chuckled, before looking back to Jaune, and going, "Well, Jaune? Are you okay with this? Do you wish to continue? Or do you want to stop?"

Jaune slowly looked between all 3 of them. To Pyrrha, then to Velvet, and then to Ruby. All of them had such hopeful looks in their eyes, such love, such affection, such wanting.

He then looked to the cupcake in Ruby's hand. What had started all of this. Should he say no? Should he stop all of this from even happening? Should he stop whatever madness or drama or chaos that would follow afterwards before it ever began?

Jaune did not know.

And with that, he made up his mind.

He leaned forward, and took a big bite out of the cupcake.

The Grimm would go on to have an absolutely rubbish day.

* * *

**The next morning...**

* * *

The 4 of them woke up next to each other under the light of the early morning, first in confusion and in a startle, and then, when the memories flooded back to them, they then looked at each other, laughed, sighed, and then leaned in forward to each other.

Jaune, Velvet, Pyrrha, and Ruby exchanged kisses with each other in the crisp morning light, their tongues spit swapping and dancing together as they exchanged each other's tastes, taking in the still musky smell from their activities yesterday, the sweet and sour tastes between them staying in their mouths as they tracked down each flavour and remembered where it came from.

Few words were said between them as they gazed into each other's eyes and souls. They needn't say anything at all. They could see all that was being said through their eyes and expressions alone. Warm smiles and loving expressions said all that was needed. There were no hidden meanings, no misunderstandings, no secret agendas or ambitions. They knew all that there was, and all that they felt, and that was all that they needed.

They cuddled together, their bare, naked bodies pressed together, exchanging warmth and sensations, as they basked in each other's heat, comfort, and security.

Whatever the future may bring, they were ready for it. Grimm, terrorists, bandits, entire armies. All of them will be made meaningless against them, as they showed the world what they felt, and what they knew, and what they loved. Their foes would be vanquished, their despair and their hatred made meaningless, while the love between them would shield them, and protect them, until the end of time, and beyond.

The 4 of them wrapped their arms around each other, each of them having the same idea as Jaune did the night before, and pumping their aura into one another, leaving a piece of themselves within each other, so that they may be together, no matter what. Before the day was done, their aura, their souls, would be even stronger than before.

They looked to each other, the words coming to their mouths at the same time, their minds in unison.

""""Happy Valentine's Day.""""

They chuckled, and said something else, equally filled with warmth and love, serving as a message that their union would be now, and forever, inseparable, till death do them apart.

""""I love you.""""

* * *

**And there we are, Valentine's Day Extravaganza! (In case you couldn't tell, this was inspired by Imyoshi's story Cream) Wow, this took me a lot longer to write then I thought it would! Under a month, let me tell you.**

**To tell you the truth, this was just a little idea that I thought of, and then I figured, hey, why not give it a go, it won't take too long, and then SIKE! End of July! Goddamn...**

**So, obviously, like said above, there are After The Fall elements added in here (Please support the official release. It's an official novel), So if you have read the novel, then good job, you'll know the references when you see them. But, for the giant block of original characters that I've just stuffed into here, they're all going to be in my other RWBY fanfic, Ascendancy. Are in it, already been shown in it, or are going to be shown in it. Depends on when you're reading this, I suppose.**

**(Fun fact: Team CSTR, or the Constructors, are actually an expy of the Constructicons from Transformers, so make sure to look out for those guys in Ascendancy! Skipjack is going to be a personal favourite of mine!)**

**Anyways, with all that said and done, I hope you all have had a good read! Leave a review and favourite and all of that junk, and I shall be seeing you all next time!**

**Titanmaster117 out!**


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